Russian Bomber Crashes During Training Mission, Six Crew Members Killed

A Russian nuclear-capable strategic bomber crashed Tuesday on a training mission in the country's far east, killing six members of its crew, the Defense Ministry announced.

The Tu-95 bomber went down in an unpopulated area in the Amur region, according to the ministry. One crew member survived the crash and was hospitalized with injuries.

The ministry stated the bomber was not carrying weapons and that investigators have been dispatched to the crash site to determine its cause.

The regional administration reported that the plane crashed near the village of Krasnoyarovo on the Zeya River, close to the Chinese border. The pilots reportedly took actions to steer the aircraft away from residential areas.

The Tu-95, a four-engine turboprop strategic bomber, has been in service since the Cold War era. The Russian military has utilized this aircraft to deploy conventionally-armed cruise missiles during the conflict in Ukraine. In June 2025, some Tu-95 aircraft were damaged or destroyed during Ukraine's "Spiderweb" operation, which involved drones covertly launched from trucks targeting Russian air bases that housed long-range bombers.